Part I Multiple Choice: Answer each of the Following:
1) A public opinion poll that gauges the popularity of the President of the United States is an example of:
a. descriptive statistics
b. inferential statistics
c. analytical statistics
d. reductionist statistics
2) Inferential statistics are necessary in research because:
a. it may be impossible to find all members of a certain population
b. social scientists don’t usually have the time or money to test an entire population
c. some of the population might not cooperate
d. samples are sometimes accurate representations of the population but can’t always be used to generalize
3) In a positively skewed distribution the mean is:
a. equal in value to the median
b. greater in value than the median
c. less in value than the median
d. either a or b, depending on the value of the mode
4) The sum of the squared differences between the scores and the mean is:
a. 0
b. 1
c. a minimum
d. both a and c
5) As a distribution of scores becomes more variable, the value of the standard deviation
a. decreases
b. stays the same
c. increases
d. becomes unpredictable
6) Within a distribution of scores, measures of dispersion provide an indication of:
a. the number of cases which are unsatisfactory
b. variety
c. the size of the sample
d. the adequacy of the selection criteria for the sample
7) Your score on the test is the same as the third quartile (Q3). You may conclude that:
a. you scored higher than 75% of the people who took the test
b. the distribution of the scores is skewed
c. your score is “typical” since it is the same value as the median
d. you scored higher than 25% of the people who took the test
8) A sampling technique that allows you to ensure proportional representativeness in a sample is:
a. representative sampling
b. stratified sampling
c. systematic sampling
d. simple random sampling
9) When created, categories of nominal level variables should be:
a. mutually exclusive to avoid ambiguity in classifying cases
b. exhaustive so that every case fits into a category
c. relevant to the research goals
d. all of the above
10) The median of a distribution of scores represents the score that is:
a. half of the sum of the scores
b. the most common score
c. the middle score
d. half of the difference between the highest and the lowest scores
Part II Problems:
1. The following data are the monthly rental prices for a sample 10 unfurnished studio apartments in the center of Concord, New Hampshire, and a sample of 10 unfurnished studio apartments in Charleston, West Virginia:
Concord
$955 $1,000 $985 $980 $940 $975 $965 $999 $1,247 $1,119
Charleston
$750 $775 $725 $705 $694 $725 $690 $745 $575 $800
a. For each set of data, compute the mean, median, mode, range, interquartile range, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation.
b. What conclusions can you draw about unfurnished studio apartments renting in Concord versus Charleston? Compare and contrast.
2. In a city of 5,000 adults, 2,000 live in private homes while the remaining live in apartment buildings. Of those living in private homes, 240 are upper income, 1,200 are middle income and 560 are lower income. Of those living in apartment buildings, 900 are upper income, 600 are middle income, and 1,500 are lower income.
a. Set up a cross-classification table for type of dwelling unit and income status, to find the probability that a person chosen at random:
a. Is middle income
b. Lives in an apartment building
c. Lives in a private home and is upper income
d. Lives in an apartment building or is lower income
e. Is middle income, if it is known that he lives in an apartment building
f. Is type of dwelling unit statistically independent of income?
3. There are ten teams in a newly reorganized local baseball league. If league administrators are necessary to run this summer league:
a. From among individual team leaders, how many ways are there to select a league principal administrator, an assistant league administrator and a team coordinator?
b. How many ways are there to select three individual team leaders to participate in the league’s
